Dieu Quyen (Danlambao) - One day after nearly a hundred policemen forced their way into Mr Truyen Nguyen 's residence to handcuff him and to take him all the way to Saigon, apparently for "possessing other citizens' property", they released him again.
Despite being charged with such a minor and unproven offence, nearly one hundred policemen and undercover agents were brought in to surround his home in Dong Thap province. After two days and one night surveiling the house and making several threats, the police cut off the electricity and internet, cut the metal lock to the front gate, broke down the metal slider door and stomped into the property. They wrestled Mr Truyen Nguyen to the ground, slapped him on the face, taped his mouth and put handcuffs on him, despite he was the only male there and was unarmed. They searched the house and took away all of his belongings, including his laptop, camera and mobile phone. They also forcibly took his wife-to-be Miss Phuong Kim Thi Bui to the local police station for interrogation, for more than 5 hours.
During the search, the police thrashed the place, throwing the furnitures around and broke the glass windows. They also broke the framed picture of prophet Huynh Phu So, the founder of Hoa Hao Buddhism, the main religion practiced by the local people. The scene resembled one of an arrest of a dangerous and armed terrorist, not of an innocent citizen who is a gentle and educated man.
Although the police released Mr Truyen Nguyen back to his parents' home in Saigon, they continued to terrorize the people in Lap Vo village in Dong Thap. Scores of uniformed and undercover cops continue to keep watch on the house and the people in it, as well as on anyone approaching the property.
Nearby, other Hoa Hao Buddhist worshippers were similarly threatened, others were beaten up. It's worth noticing that Hoa Hao Buddhist followers in Dong Thap have a certain dislike of the government. They refuse to obey the push to practice the religion in a manner designed and approved by the government. They had voiced strongly their desire and quest for freedom to practice their religion the traditional way and as the result, many had been beaten up, arrested and imprisoned by the police.
Today, several of Mr Truyen Nguyen's friends, concerned for his safety, travelled in from afar to come to his aids, not knowing at the time that he had been taken to Saigon. Some of them were stopped on the way and harrassed by the police. Others were arrested, put into police vans to be taken away. Some were beaten up quite savagely.
This is bad news for human rights in Viet Nam, as it clearly shows that the Vietnamese government has no intention to follow the rules and regulations set out by the Human Rights Committee of the United Nations. The Vietnamese convoy made glowing reports and many promises at the Universal Periodic Review a few days ago, but they have failed completely to deliver.
Viet Nam deserves to be kicked off the Commitee!
